IndieCade International Festival Of Independent Games To Present 30 Finalist Games In Culver City From October 1 - 4

CULVER CITY, Calif.-(Business Wire)-September 15, 2009 - IndieCade announced today that its annual flagship festival, the International Festival of Independent Games, will take place on October 1-4, 2009 in Culver City, California. The culmination and celebration of its annual competition, IndieCade 2009 will present 30 independent games selected from hundreds of entries. The International Festival of Independent Games marks the only independent gaming event in the US open to the public.

The finalist games represent the best creativity, vision and work of independent game designers from around the world with games encompassing all types of interactive media – art to commercial, ARG to abstract, mind-bending to mobile, serious to shooter. Finalists being announced today include “Papermint” from Avaloop in Austria, “Moon Stories” by Daniel Benmergui from Argentina and “Gray” by Mike Boxleiter & Greg Wohlwend of the United States.

“IndieCade continues to nurture and attract the fringe talent that is paving the future of game development,” says Sam Roberts, IndieCade Festival Director. We’re anticipating the best festival ever thanks to a tremendous roster of participants and amazing support from Culver City.”

The festival will open on October 1 and run through October 4. There will be a gala opening night event “The IndieCade Happening” from 6:00 to 10:00pm at the Royal/T gallery/shop/café hosted by Richard Lemarchand (Naughty Dog). At the event Lemarchand will introduce many of the gamemakers who will each offer a specialized capsule presentation of their work.

Hands-on exhibitions of the top 30 finalists’ work will be showcased during the entire run of IndieCade 2009 at three Culver City locations: Wonderful World of Art Gallery, Culver Hotel Mezzanine and Gregg Fleishman Gallery daily from 10:00am to 7:00pm daily.

An extensive conference schedule is also being offered as part of IndieCade 2009. Featuring artist talks, salon discussions, master classes, workshops, panels and keynotes, the conference will be held at nine locations in and around Culver City and run October 2-4. Each day the conference will focus on a particular theme:

										Friday – October 2 Emotional Depth and Challenging Topics
										Saturday – October 3 Art and Innovation
										Sunday – October 4 Aspiring Gamemakers Young and Old

Providing the keynote for Friday will be Keita Takahashi (Katamari Damacy) and Jenova Chen (Cloud, Flow and Flower) who will have a conversation with moderator Robin Hunicke about “Expression in Games.” Saturday’s keynote will be provided by legendary game maker Will Wright (The Sims, Spore) who will share his vision for Stupid Fun Club, his new venture. The company has recently expanded its mission to embrace trans-media, creating entertainment content that spans multiple platforms. In this highly anticipated keynote, Wright will discuss the company’s current projects and activities.

A full conference schedule can be found at www.indiecade.org.

Also being presented at the Festival will be two special live games including “Urban Bingo” and “Chalk Games.” “Urban Bingo” by David Jimison (Dirt Party, Shark!) is a twist on the traditional community game sending teams of players throughout downtown in search of everyday objects. “Chalk Games” is a public game design class that will be led by Robin Hunicke (Sims Online, Bloom Box) on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the Culver City Plaza where festival-goers will learn how to make games with a little chalk... and a lot of imagination!

The Awards Ceremony will be held at The Sony Pictures Plaza on October 2 from 7:00 to 10:00pm. Finalists will be chosen by a panel of illustrious jurors as well as IndieCade attendees. Awards will be presented for Aesthetics, Gameplay Innovation, Fun/Compelling, Sublime Experience, Technical Innovation, World/Story, Jury Award/Best in Show, Finalist Choice and Audience Choice.

Tickets for the IndieCade 2009 range from $20.00 for day of hands-on gameplay to $275.00 for a full festival/conference pass. More information about the festival and to purchase tickets, please go to www.indiecade.org.

To date IndieCade’s festival and series of showcase events have been instrumental in highlighting the cultural significance of independent games and securing industry recognition and public attention for the games, the gamemakers, and the medium. IndieCade President Stephanie Barish adds, “Many games shown at IndieCade events have secured deals with major game studios including “And Yet it Moves,” that has been picked up for the Nintendo Wii, and Richard Boeser’s “Ibb and Obb,” now in production at Sony. Popular titles such as “Braid,” “Everyday Shooter,” “Blueberry Garden,” “Machinarium” and “N” are other successful games that have been showcased at IndieCade events. In addition to securing deals with major publishers, IndieCade has also made it possible for games such as “Flywrench” to be presented at the New Museum in New York and “levelHead,” which has been presented at galleries and museums throughout Europe.

What: IndieCade 2009 International Festival of Independent Games				When: October 1-4, 2009
Where: Culver City, CA				Attendees: Open To The Public

About IndieCade

IndieCade supports independent game development and organizes a series of international festivals and showcase exhibitions for the future of independent games. It encourages, publicizes, and cultivates innovation and artistry in interactive media, helping to create a public perception of games as rich, diverse, artistic, and culturally significant. IndieCade’s events and related production and publication programs are designed to bring visibility to and facilitate the production of new works within the emerging independent game movement. Like the independent developer community itself, IndieCade’s focus is global; it includes producers in Asia, Europe, Australia, and wherever independent games are made and played. IndieCade was formed by Creative Media Collaborative, an alliance of industry producers and leaders founded in 2005. Advisors to IndieCade include Dave Perry, Will Wright, Eric Zimmerman, Neil Young, Tracy Fullerton, and Keita Takahashi, among many other storied industry veterans and rebels. http://www.indiecade.com

Send this news item to a friend.

Print This Page